The Pack Series Book One: This Unstoppable Force
by exquisiteabyss
Summary: The La Push pack is beginning to grow and Jared Thail is one of the newest Quileute boys on the reservation to phase. This is his story about becoming a wolf and imprinting on the shy Kim Connweller, who proves to be more feisty then she lets on.
1. Chapter 1

The Pack Series

Book One: This Unstoppable Force

Chapter One

* * *

The palette of colours came clearer into his line of vision. The forest was coated with a dewy mist from the previous rainfall. He could feel the wetness, but it wasn't seeping into him causing chills and irritation like it usually did. The vivid shades of green intermingled with the brown, it was as if he could detect every colour each tree or shrub possessed. The forest was loud and alive with nature; its sounds pierced his ears.

He cried out in agony at the sharpness of everything around him. He was hyper aware of where he was and scared shitless to be quite frank. His panic sent his senses into over drive; he couldn't comprehend what was happening as his panicked state roused a powerful sensation inside him, bringing it to the forefront. He felt every grain of dirt underneath each of his four feet.

Wait…four? What the hell was going on? In his confused state a primal urge erupted from him and before he knew what he was doing a long, pained howl escaped from his throat. Within seconds he felt a presence near him and a voice began to speak in his head.

"Calm down, you are alright"

Who was that? What is going on? He had just gotten angry over popping a tire on his car and next thing he knew he was alone in the woods on all fours hearing voices.

"I am Sam Uley. We have met before and I need you to _calm down_."

Sam's voice had calmed him without his acknowledgment and before he knew what he was doing he had lowered his body down to the ground in submission. The pines towered overhead and he breathed in their scent deeply. The smell of the pine trees and the forest air had always been such a calming scent to him before, and it seemed as though it was magnified in his mind and he could smell everything much more intensely.

A large gray wolf emerged from the shaded brush over to his right, and had he not been lulled in a weird state of contentment he would have jumped back in panic, not that he had any clue how to move properly at the present moment. He heard quiet laughter in his head but he was confused, and as if to answer his question the black wolf came closer and nudged him with its nose.

"Welcome to the Pack Jared."

* * *

"Order up!" Pete's voice hollered out from the kitchen.

Kim hurried over to the counter where he was waiting with a tired expression on his face.

"Thanks Pete." She replied kindly, taking the food.

I think I am one of the few waitresses that actually get along with him, Kim thought to herself. Granted, the older chef was a little rough around the edge and very frightening when he was angry, but she had always been raised to treat others with respect. Pete liked how she stayed quiet for the most part and did her job.

The other waitresses were sometimes more interested in what the latest gossip was on the reservation then taking orders. It wasn't as though Rivers Edge was some upscale restaurant, or even a T.G.I. Fridays. River's Edge was a dated little diner just along the coast of La Push, and while the view was great, the diner was understaffed and well known for its disappointing service. Which was why Kim tried her hardest to be the best she could at her job. She was the youngest and newest employee; it was really a miracle that she had a job at all. She needed to save all the money she could if she ever wanted to get out of La Push.

It wasn't that Kim didn't like La Push, far from it. La Push was her home; it's her heritage. But she wanted so much more then just to work at this diner her whole life. The world was a big place and she hadn't experienced much of anything. Kim had spent her entire life going to school, staying at home, doing homework and sitting around with the few friends she had made. But something just wasn't right; Kim just hadn't found her place. Sure she had some friends, but she never really opened up to any of them. She felt like she was on autopilot for most of her life, looking forward to the future, for when she could live how she wanted to, however that may be. Hopefully I will figure out what is missing from my life, regardless, I don't think staying in La Push will help me figure that out, Kim determined as she carried the tray of food to table eight.

"Here are your fish and chips, Mrs. Call." Kim said quietly, smiling as she placed the food on the table.

"Why thank you Kimberly. This looks delicious." She replied happily.

"And the ribs for you Mr. Call." Kim continued.

She asked if there was anything else they needed before walking away, heat spreading to her cheeks. She hated how shy she was. Her mother always told her to get over it, but she couldn't help it. Sometimes talking to people just got her so flustered. She just didn't feel important enough for people to talked to her, so it was especially hard for her to just waltz up to anyone and go 'Hey! How's it going? I'm pretty awesome, you seem awesome too, want to be friends?' She scoffed at herself in annoyance. If only she could get over her shy problem, everything would just be so much easier.

"Get a hold of yourself Kim, you are just doing your job." She told herself quietly before getting back to work, wishing she could just fast forward time.

After work Kim sat around waiting for her mother to pick he up when two of her co-workers came out for a smoke break just down the way. She tried her best to stay up wind from the smoke as she read the book she had been assigned in English. Kim was straining her eyes slightly to read the words on the page with only the light sources being the restaurant windows when she overheard some of the conversation the two other waitresses were having nearby.

"So did you hear about Sam Uley?"

Kim turned my head slightly listening. It wasn't that Kim liked gossip very much, but she was bored out of her mind and the conversation was slightly more interesting then reading the next chapter of _The Cather and the Rye_.

"Oh what did he do now?"

"He is engaged!"

"Are you serious? To that Emily girl?"

"The very same, you know, Leah Clearwater's cousin"

"The scumbag, how can he just work his way through a family like that?"

"Well it's not as if Emily is innocent in all of this. She was the reason he left Leah to begin with, you know."

Kim hardly gossiped, mainly because she didn't have any big information on anyone, but she sure heard a lot from just sitting around and paying attention to the people in her surroundings. As the two girls to the right of Kim continued to converse she lost interest and went back to the book. It wasn't the first time Kim had heard about the whole Sam, Emily, and Leah love triangle. Personally she thought the whole issue was ridiculous. Kim didn't like Sam in the story to be perfectly honest. He had always seemed like a nice enough person, but then he apparently had changed and lost touch with a lot of his friends, became reclusive and from what Kim had heard, was drifting away from Leah before Emily had even stepped into the picture. But who was she to judge.

* * *

The next day Kim's alarm went off as it did every morning; 6:05 on the dot. There was no sun streaming through the windows, it seemed as though it would be yet another rainy day in La Push. After hitting the snooze button twice Kim finally forced herself out of bed and fumbled around her room for a decent outfit for school and set it out on the dishevelled bed.

When she flicked the light on in the bathroom Kim had to squeeze her eyes shut. The light was far to bright for her sleepy eyes at the moment. So she half-blindly started the shower and shivered as she stepped in. She cautiously stepped under the stream and allowed the warm water to cascade over her. Kim had been having a brilliant dream before her alarm had woken her up. She couldn't remember much of it but vaguely remembered a beach. Kim knew it had been a good dream though, because even though she couldn't remember what exactly had happened, she was feeling very aroused. Sighing to herself, she tried to shove away the sensation she was feeling deep inside. Kim knew it would be no good to let thoughts like those fester in her mind when there would be no resolution to them. But she couldn't herself from imagining what it would be like to wake up as pent up as she was and having someone there to help relieve it. That thought alone brought other thoughts into Kim's mind. Thoughts of a certain someone she had been crushing, for lack of a better word, on since Kim was a freshman. Jared Thail. Just the thought of him being in the shower with her, water dripping down his body as he helped Kim reach what she had never experienced but knew her body craved. No, she told herself, stopping the thought altogether before she went to far into it. Kim tried to stop those kinds thoughts before getting too carried away; after all, it was no use working herself up if nothing was going to come of it but frustration and loneliness. Kim shut off the shower and wrapped herself up in a fluffy towel. After drying off, Kim strolled towards her bedroom to finish getting ready for school.

School was a predictable thing lately. Kim would hop on the bus, sit down by herself and listen to music during the ride there. No one really talked to her too much on the ride there. Occasionally someone would ask Kim something, usually Kayla Bruns wondering about assignments, and Kim would be included in their conversations but she tended to stay on the outskirts of the usual groups at school. Kim just went about her business and interacted when interacted with.

She tossed her bag into the locker after grabbing the books for chemistry and math. Kim's first two classes in the morning were such tough ones, and she hated having to wake herself up in order to pay attention, but she had learned better then to fall asleep in class. Kim smiled to herself as she remembered when Jack in her chemistry class had fallen asleep when they were being lectured about titrations and buffer solutions. He hadn't known what had hit him when Mrs. Greene slammed the giant chemistry textbook on his desk. He had jumped and fallen over in his seat. Mrs. Greene was one of Kim's favourite teachers. She was strict but fair, and Kim always felt that the teacher had a soft spot for her. Ever since the one incident in her freshman year, Mrs. Greene seemed to take a liking to her and Kim was grateful of that fact. It was one of the reasons Kim had continued taking the science classes she taught.

Continuing on with her slue of classes for the day Kim was relieved when lunchtime had rolled around, she had made it halfway through the day. Kim made her way to the lockers and put her books away, grabbing lunch money and some homework. Kim's stomach had been making a variety of noises near the end of last class and she knew that if she didn't get some food soon she would not be very happy. So Kim booked it over to the cafeteria, beating the rush. After buying lunch Kim made her way over to her usual table. She couldn't really call all the people at this table close friends, but they all had one thing in common: they did their homework during lunch and didn't really gossip or talk much, which Kim appreciated.

Kim was greeted by James and Sarah, both whom had arrived at the table before her. Their books were already open and spread out and they had been working diligently.

"So what did you think about Mr. Howe's pop quiz in math?" Sarah questioned Kim as she a down, James went back to work disinterested with conversation.

Sarah and Kim had many of the same classes; she was the closest thing Kim had to a best friend, at least that was how Kim saw it.

"It wasn't so bad, I had a feeling there would be one today, he had been dropping not so subtle hints all last week about knowing how to do a specific type of problem, which surprise, surprise was on it." Kim replied nonchalantly, taking out her chemistry notes from this morning to review them.

"Yeah I studied everything just to be sure, it's just as well. The one that I studied the least he puts on the quiz." She sighed to herself before going back to her work, effectively ending the conversation. Kim didn't mind though, she still had a lot of reviewing to do if she was going to understand the proper use of the empirical formula.

Kim had been taking a break to focus on just eating when her eyes began to drift, despite her best efforts towards the table where Jared usually sat with his gang. Preparing just to catch a self-satisfying, and not at all stalker-like, glance Kim did not expect him to not be there. His friends and their, for lack of a better word, sluts were there. Actually why find a better word, they were sluts, Kim thought to herself. Everyone knew it, even they knew it themselves; they flaunted it. The boys just ate it all up too. Paul was over at the table conversing and laughing with his friends and the girls around them stroked their arms and shoved their breasts out as far as they could. Kim found herself staring a Paul with mild interest. He and Jared we simular in so many ways and they both had bulked up a bit. Kim had been noticing Jared getting taller, more fit. She really hoped that they weren't on steroids. That would just crush her. Kim had taken I liking to their changes though, and even with the changes Jared still had maintained his puppy dog brown eyes, she could just drown in them. He hadn't changed much in his gorgeous face either, if anything he looked more and more like a model for a men's fitness magazine every day. Kim could even imagine what it would be like with Paul and his rugged growing body. He seemed like the type of guy who would just have his way with you and then that's it, which was a big turn off, but that didn't stop her from enjoying the view; she was still a woman. And he was most definitely a man. Kim shook her head and quickly forced herself to look back into her notes. What was she doing picturing these kinds of things? It's not like they would never happen, and she was getting herself all hot and bothered during the middle of school. Damned hormones. Kim had always hoped for the day when Jared would look over at her and realise all those other girls weren't for him, that he wanted a real relationship with someone like Kim.

She almost snorted out loud at that thought. Now she was really being unrealistic. What guy in his right mind would give up attractive and loose girls throwing themselves at him whenever he wanted for a nerdy and shy nobody who had no experience in anything? No guy would. Jared most certainly wouldn't; he and his friends we pretty well known around school for serial dating, and despite that they were still considered fairly cool and respected. Where could he be today, she wondered again. The bell interrupted her thoughts and Kim scrambled to collect her things, so much for studying.

* * *

Jared had just finished patrol and was making his way over to Emily's house for dinner. He was hungrier than he had ever been in my life, or at least that was what it felt like, and Jared was hoping that Emily already had supper ready. He trotted over to the tree where he kept his clothes tucked away. His fur was slightly damp and the breeze that was settling over La Push felt great as it blew over him. Jared stretched contently as he started to phase back into human form. He quickly pulled on jean cut offs and ran into the small little house as the smell of food wafted through the surrounding air. Mmm, Emily had made steak and potatoes. Jared threw open the front door smiling easily. Sam looked over at him and smiled slightly nodding his head in hello.

"Is that Jared?" Emily asked, walking into the living room. She spotted Jared and grinned happily at him, and chirped out a hello as Sam stood up and wrapped himself around her.

"Is that dinner I smell?" Jared questioned as he adverted his gaze from their intimate embrace, heading towards the kitchen.

"Yeah it's all done so help yourself." Emily mumbled, her lips temporarily being occupied by Sam.

It had been nearly a week since Jared had first phased into a wolf, but it felt like he had been one my entire life. Jared couldn't remember what it was like not to be a wolf. Sure he hadn't seen his friends in ages, but he didn't mind too much. He had Sam and Emily; they were his pack now, his family. Emily was Sam's imprint. Jared had been given the lowdown on everything wolf and imprinting was one of the lessons. He didn't pay too much attention when Sam had explained it; Jared was much more interested in hunting, the mind reading, and super healing abilities. Sam told Jared imprinting was pretty rare, but it as when a wolf found their soul mate or whatever. Jared couldn't care less, he loved Emily; she was an imprint in his pack and Jared was drawn to her. Not like how Sam was, but he cared for her safety, she was a part of him. Despite all the newfound pack love, Jared was still getting restless. Sam wouldn't let him go to school until he was sure Jared had himself under control and wouldn't snap and phase in the middle of class if he got lectured by a teacher. Sam also told Jared about vampires. He cringed slightly at that thought of his sworn enemies. They were the reason both he and Sam were a wolves to begin with. Jared disliked them based on that fact, but for reasons Jared had only recently understood Sam loathed them for the change he had gone through. There had been some serious shit that had gone down when Sam had phased. Particularly, Sam still felt guilty about what had gone down between him and Leah Clearwater. Jared had seen that thought fleet through Sam's mind several times during patrol. However, the most prominent regret in Sam's mind was what he had done to Emily. Jared remembered when he had first seen Emily's scarred face; he had nearly broke into tears from the shear emotions he was feeling from Sam. Not a day went by that Sam didn't consider throwing himself under a bus for what he had done to Emily. A lot of good that would do, Jared scoffed, as wolves they were practically invincible. Sure, being a wolf had its perks, but Jared would rather that he was just normal. Sam had told Jared about the Cullens in Forks; they are a group of supposedly 'vegetarian' vampires. As sceptical as Jared was that vampires should be anywhere near humans, Sam had reassured him that the Cullen clan had made a treaty years ago with their ancestors, and they still had to abide by it. In the mean time, more lucky guys on the reservation who had the wolf gene would be phasing as time passed.

Jared squeezed the knife in his hand a little to hard leaving an imprint of his hand in it. Oops, he hoped Emily wouldn't be too mad. It just seemed so unnecessary, Jared and Sam could just go and tear the Cullens to shreds and end this whole problem, but Sam was the Alpha and what he says goes. Jared didn't like that thought of being controlled but Sam showed him that even though he was still getting used to being in charge, he would try his hardest to never take away Jared's, or anyone else who joined the pack's, free will barring any extreme circumstances.

Sam then walked in with Emily following behind him looking slightly dishevelled, trying to fix her hair and straighten out her clothes. He walked by Jared grinning like a madman and tousled his hair as he went past. Sam's show of approval gave Jared and his inner wolf a satisfying feeling and he loved being part of this pack, family, whatever it was.

"You know it's bad manners to get it on when you have a guest over Em, I'm feeling a little left out here. Why don't you come over here and give me some sugar?" Jared grinned at her, making her cheeks turn scarlet. Sam smacked Jared on the side of his head as he was getting his food.

"Shut up idiot, or I'll kick you out of my house." He growled out half playfully.

Emily continued to blush as she got her food and sat down to eat. Then when Jared least expected it she tossed a potato at his head. Jared ducked just in time and looked at her in shock. Sam burst into guffaws at Jared's facial expression as she tossed another potato at his head. This time he caught it and laughed.

"You know, next time you want to get back at me, use something a lot harder then a vegetable." Jared said matter of factly, putting the potato on his plate to eat later.

She thought for a moment and then smiled evilly, "Or I could just sick Sam on you," and sat back in her chair to continue eating.

Jared shut up and went back to his meal. Two against one was never fair, especially when an imprint was involved.

* * *

Two weeks. Two whole weeks had gone by and not one sighting of Jared. Kim could tell even his friends we concerned. The teachers has him marked down as sick, but from what she had heard around school he hadn't so much as called, texted, or emailed anyone since he was last in school. What was even stranger was that near the end of the first week Paul had disappeared as well. He had apparently caught the same thing as Jared and would be away until he had gotten better. Kim spent everyday waiting anxiously to see if either boy would make an appearance, but neither did. She missed having Jared in school. He sat beside her in English and right behind her in Biology. Sometimes he would ask for a pencil or if Kim had that last note written down before the teacher had erased it. He would thank her and go back to whatever he was doing but it was still nice. She wasn't obsessed, well not very much. She just really liked him. Kim sometimes doodled in her workbooks, and on post it notes, his name in a heart until she realised what she was doing and stopped herself. She was becoming one of those girly girls who doodled 'Mrs. Fill in the Blank' all over their notebooks. Kim hated that. She just couldn't seem to help herself, he was just so hot, and kind, and smart, well sort of. Urgh, she was getting carried away again.

Kim got ready to board the bus at the end of the day. Today was a rare day that she didn't have a shift at the diner after school so she could actually get off the bus stop near her house and crash for a bit before starting homework. It had been a long week and she was looking forward to some time to herself. Time to relax, catch up on work, and maybe think about what collages she would apply to next year. She figured she would push Jared and his mysterious illness from her mind as much as possible. It couldn't go on much longer, he and Paul would have to come back to school sometime soon, it was almost June and exams were coming up. They never did.

* * *

**Well there you have it, my first attempt at writing after a two year long hiatus. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. Obviously this is just the first chapter and there will be much more exciting chapters yet to come. I have a lot planned. I even got a little ahead of myself and started planning the other accompanying stories I have planned with this one. I don't know how often my updates will be all the time because of school coming but this is definitely something I feel very attached note that this story will be slightly OC. Since I'm beginning this story around the time New Moon will soon start, I won't be following much of what happens after Eclipse. There won't be Paul and Rachel or Jake and Renesmee.  
**

**Also, if you want updates on my writing I noticed a few other writers update via livejournal. If you want you can find me there underneath the name exquisite_abyss. Also I will be posting little notices on twitter as well as little ideas, although I mostly use that with my friends, just add me (exquisiteabyss) and we can talk if you would like. **

**I'm also looking for a beta reader. Because as much as I try and read over my stuff thoroughly I'm sure I miss things and I would love to get suggestions on certain things I'm uncertain about before posting. So if you are at all interested let me know **

**Anyways, I will try and update soon. Thank you for reading and please leave a review if you can I would love to get some feedback! **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

* * *

The sunlight streamed through the window, rousing Kim from her slumber. She was so used to overcast skies that the sunlight tickled her senses and before she knew it her eyes had cracked open. Excited, Kim stretched and pulled her body out of bed; it was never sunny in La Push. She opened the blinds and sighed as the sunlight hit her. How lucky am I, she thought to herself; it was one of the first days without any overcast and it was also her day off. She had spent her whole summer working full time at River's Edge to try to make as much money as she could. With a lack of shopping malls or even department stores nearby it was easier for her to save money on important things, like college.

That didn't mean her mom had stopped trying to drag her to Port Angeles every chance the woman got. Kim didn't understand why her old clothes were good enough to wear last year, but somehow outdated this year. It wasn't as if the small reservation kept up to date on the latest fashion trends, despite some girl's best efforts. Kim didn't think she had no fashion sense, she just preferred simpler styles. To appease her mother she did cave occasionally and go on shopping trips, just the two of them.

Somehow Kim had ended up with a new fall wardrobe after the last shopping trip they went on. Spending two hundred dollars of her hard-earned summer money had not exactly been Kim's plan, but her mother had dished out for the rest of the clothes, so she could hardly complain. After all, in some other places around the country girls spent that much on clothes each month, or even twice a month. Kim shuddered at the thought of spending so much money on fabric. She preferred her simple comforts; one of which being the sundress that she had pulled out of her closet to wear on this unusually sunny day.

The plan for the day had been to get some research colleges she might be interested in attending next year and the scholarships they offered. However, the sunshine could not and would not be wasted. Succumbing to the pull of the nice weather, Kim gathered up her necessities, some papers on colleges in Washington, and her latest summer read, stuffed them all in a tote bag and set off for the great outdoors.

She immediately felt the sun's rays on her skin, as she stepped outside. It felt as though the sunlight was dancing on her skin, she could feel the vitamin D seeping in her pores. Kim wondered for a brief moment if she should instead be researching colleges in California, Florida, or a state with a much warmer climate and higher sunshine to overcast ratio.

She arrived at first beach and set up a nice place to relax away from where the kids from her school would normally hang out. It wasn't that seeing people from her school was a bad thing, it was just easier if they didn't see her so she wasn't forced to interact to much with them, get embarrassed, and end up looking like more of a freak then she already was. Maybe her mother was right; Kim was far too reclusive for her own good. There were some teenagers from Forks down by the beach already, suited up for surfing and hoping to catch some mediocre waves. They were excited and talking happily without a care in the world. What Kim wouldn't give to have a group of friends like that. She looked at them curiously, trying to imagine that she had a group of friends, and then she shook her head and looked away. Kim couldn't pinpoint exactly where she had gone wrong with the whole 'making friends' ting, she was liked well enough around town, she was just…reclusive. Like her mother had said. Her mother was right, and Kim hated that.

Kim's mind had begun to wander, humming along to her music; she took one earphone out when she heard hoots and hollering from the far side of the beach. She turned her attention from the little plateau she was on to a group of very attractive half-naked men across the way. They were goofing off and completely unaware that she or anyone else was watching them. She took in their huge forms as they walked closer to where she was and couldn't help but wonder who they were when she heard a booming voice carry over to where she was sitting.

"Jared get your ass over here man and get in the damn water."

Two of them had jumped straight into the shallow water, it wasn't until then that she realised it was Paul and Jared, and another man whom she knew to be Sam Uley. She had seen the three of them around town, but she had never had the chance to really take a good look at them. Once she had spotted them goofing off outside a grocery store as she had passed by a window and had been tempted to stop and stare but it would have been too obvious. That had been the first glimpse Kim had got of Jared since his absence and Kim had felt relieved that Jared was better, and that Paul apparently was too. Kim had noticed that they had changed quite a bit over the summer. Those changes were ever so much clearer now that she was closer, also the fact that the guys were clad only in swim trunks helped too.

Kim regained some composure and realised she was gaping at them and she berated herself. She was very happy that they had not noticed her obviousness as she checked them out. Their muscles, which she had thought looked huge a few months ago, were even bigger then she remembered. How was it that they had managed to become even more attractive? They looked like models and were they ever ripped. Kim forced herself to tear her eyes away from them and look back down at her book. Don't look up; don't look up, she told herself. It worked for a bit, until the pull of curiosity and temptation to sneak another look at their muscular figures was too much for her.

The guys floating around in the water, splashing and beating each other up like idiots, which made Kim giggle to herself. It seemed as though Jared didn't have a care in the world as he floated along splashing Sam every once and a while, much to Sam's annoyance. Jared was also checking out some of the girls on the beach, Kim noticed with envy and subconsciously tried to raise herself a little higher and into his line of vision so he would, hopefully see her too. But it didn't happen because a Jared's perusal of the female beachgoers was interrupted by huge wave crashing in his face, courtesy of Paul. He was laughing like a hyena at Jared's face when he resurfaced. If looks could kill Paul would have been a dead man as Jared stalked towards him in the water, but Kim heard Sam telling them to cut it out before they got out of control.

What Kim didn't expect was for Paul to feel her gaze and turn around. When Paul saw her starring he smiled and winked at her. With a squeak Kim ducked back into her book hiding herself again from any onlookers, particularly from the boys in the water. She would not look up again; she would not give Paul the satisfaction. Especially if Jared saw her ogling him like she had been, it would be so mortifying, she thought to herself. Maybe this trip to the beach had been a bad idea. There were so many people around, and she was alone. That made things so much worse. As much as Kim dreaded trying to make small talk with people in a group, the world was such a lonely place when you were just one person.

* * *

"Will you stop singing that stupid song?" Paul mentally demanded, irritated. Jared had a stupid pop song stuck in his head and while it was all fine and dandy when they had heard it on the beach, it was beginning to irritate him when he heard Jared play it over in his mind for the sixty-sixth time.

"I can't help it. You know what it's like when you get a song stuck in your head. I can't get it out, besides, it's catchy." Jared thought happily, very content that he had spent the day with his pack.

"You want me to beat it out of your head?" Paul offered, only half kidding.

Jared ignored him and continued to patrol the perimeter of La Push. He knew when he was directly in line with the Cullen's house because his senses detected the faint vampire scent that he was vaguely familiar with and his wolf responded with a strong urge to attack.

"Worst part of patrol, lets just hurry past here." Paul thought in a clipped tone. He always had such a hard time controlling his emotions, his wolf was very vocal and couldn't stand that they left the Cullens alive.

Jared's mind began to wander and he tried his best to tune out Paul's as his mind did the same. Just because they shared a pack mind didn't mean they couldn't try to maintain the illusion of private thoughts. Unfortunately that illusion tended to be disrupted by one member of the pack, unable to resist commenting on the thoughts, typically with something sarcastic.

Eventually the two settled on the same thought wave, what would happen when the summer did come to an end? Jared knew he had to go back and graduate, as did Paul. Paul was slightly concerned that he wouldn't be able to control himself. But Jared assured his friend that he believed that Paul had developed a lot more control in comparison to when he had first begun to phase. Sam had made Jared his Beta when Paul had phased and Paul did not take to the Pack order too well. He was used to being the top guy. In school he had been the natural leader of their group, as much as anyone can be at least. It came as a reality check to him that he was now at the bottom of the heap.

Jared listened to Paul's thoughts taking a downward turn and side checked him while giving him a slight nip on the ears.

"Don't belittle yourself, Paul. I'm not above kicking your ass."

Paul growled at him angrily, he hated when Jared dominated over him, but he knew Jared's intentions were good and he used that thought to push away some of his anger.

"So there were some pretty hot girls at First today, huh?" Jared thought, changing the topic to something lighter.

"Yeah, there were some real babes out. Did you notice our little hill-top admirer?"

"What are you talking about?" Jared questioned.

"There was a girl who was sitting up on one of those small hills by the water all by herself getting all hot and bothered over you." Paul stated, showing Jared the image of her hiding behind her hair and ducking out of sight.

Jared chuckled to himself, slightly intrigued by the girl.

"I wonder why she was alone," he wondered more to himself, but Paul responded anyway,

"I think she may be in our year at school, I'm positive I've seen her before in a class or something."

The two carried on for the rest of patrol, goofing off and pouncing on each other playfully, sometimes unable to control their more 'wolfy' urges. Paul definitely felt more at ease when he was surrounded by his pack, it made it all the more better that Jared, his best friend, was going through this whole 'protectors' thing with him. They had always been the best of friends and now they were brothers. Jared laid his head on Paul's back with affection. They were pack brothers, and that tie was so much deeper than friendship.

Days had passed by quickly, growing shorter and shorter on the reservation. Sam and Paul had just come in from a quick patrol before darkness descended and engulfed the town. They had been talking amongst themselves, deciding that yes, another trip to the cliffs tomorrow would be fun and they didn't get that adrenaline rush as much as they wanted. Jared had been watching over Sam's house, more so watching his TV than anything else. He waved hello as his two pack brothers entered the living room. Paul plopped down on the opposite couch and lounged back carelessly. Even though it was Sam's house he had never felt more at home then when he was there. Something was missing though, and Paul noticed it. With one eye popping open curiously he noticed Sam's slight distress.

"Jared, where's Emily?" he asked, while looking around the house trying to find her.

"Chill out, Sam. She just said she was going out for a bit, she'd be back around nine or something." Jared replied back nonchalantly, too engrossed by the television to care too much. The reservation was safe, Emily was safe, it was all good.

"Something is wrong, I can feel it Jared. I can feel it in our connection. Did she say where she was going?"

"Sam you need to learn to relax. Em's not a baby, she did things by herself before you and she still will even with you acting like a whipped over-protective guard dog," Paul stated, "Besides if she said nine, don't panic until she's late, and it's only…nine…fifteen…"

Paul trailed off as he felt the worry from his Alpha grow exponentially. Jared and Paul jumped off the couch and walked towards that door that Sam was already halfway through.

"We'll find her Sam don't worry…" Jared started as they saw Emily's car pull up into the driveway, Sam was beside it before she turned off the car, and swung open the door. He gathered her into his arms and Jared and Paul let out a sign of relief as they felt their Alpha's relief. They made to go inside when Emily cried out, she was upset, and Jared and Paul could feel it through the pack bond.

"Let me go Sam! I SAID LET ME GO!" Emily screamed beating against his chest.

Sam recovered from the shock of her crying and hugged her to his body against her will. He tried to wipe away her tears and calm her down. Jared and Paul were both confused at Emily's behaviour, not understanding what had upset her so much.

"Damn it Sam. Let me go! I don't want you touching me, get off!" She screamed out, trying to break out of his arms.

"Em, please, sweetheart, what's wrong?" Sam asked her, pain etched on his face. Jared and Paul walked over to the edge of the house, out of view, but not out of hearing.

"It's over Sam, I can't do this anymore! The engagement is off. I'm such a horrible person." Emily sobbed, tears flowing down her face.

Sam was shocked, and fell to his knees, as if she had sucker punched him in the gut. He wrapped his body around her legs, head pressed into her abdomen.

"Emily, Em, please, no. Don't do this; don't leave me. I love you so much. Please Em," he begged, his words muffled into her shirt.

"I'm such a horrible person, Sam." She cried, clinging to whatever parts she could get her hands on.

"Where did you go? What happened?"

"I was at the…the Clearwater's'. Oh Sam, I've hurt her so bad. My cousin, my best friend, she hates me Sam. She hates what we are. She…she never wants anything to do with me ever again. I can't hurt my family anymore Sam, I can't. I-I love them, and I love you, but…"

Sam cut her off. He jumped to his feat and pulled her into a searing kiss. It was passionate, pleading, and desperate. She couldn't leave him, she just couldn't. He kissed her nose, her forehead, paying special attention to the three scars that marked her face; the scars he had given her.

"I love you…I love you…I love you…" he repeated each time he kissed her as she cried quietly in his arms.

"Listen to me Emily, your uncle Harry knows. You know this, and as much as it hurt…Leah…he knew that it wasn't meant to be. She will be happy and one day she will get over it, I promise you. I'm so sorry my love, I'm so sorry. Please, just stay with me." Sam pleaded, wrapping her into his arms even tighter.

Emily merely nodded, still quietly crying into his chest. Sam let out another breath that he had been holding in. It had taken a lot of self-control to stop himself from phasing. His wolf had quieted down a bit more, Emily was theirs, and she still loved them.

"I'm sorry," she cried out, "it was just so horrible there. And I love you so much."

Sam kissed her passionately, pouring all his love into the kiss leaving Emily weak in the knees

"Guys, go home." Sam called over his shoulder as he carried Emily into the house. Her legs wrapped around his waist, kissing her small apologies down the side of his neck.

Jared and Paul walked over to where Jared's car was parked.

"Want to hang out at my house? My mom is most likely MIA again." Paul suggested, shrugging.

"Sure, I've been wanted to get at your Xbox games for awhile now."

"Fine, but if you break my shit I'll kill you. You know how expensive it is."

"You'd break it before me with your PMS."

Paul punched Jared before walking around the side of the car and getting into the passenger seat. The punch barely fazed Jared for a second as he shrugged it off and got in his car.

"Do you think either one of us will imprint?" Jared asked as he stuffed his fifth slice of pizza into his mouth.

"I pity the girl you imprint on," Paul laughed as he blasted another opponent in Call of Duty.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The poor girl will have to put up with seeing your ugly mug 24/7"

Jared kicked Paul in the shin from where he was lying on the floor.

"Jackass."

"I hope I imprint on someone hot. Like Jessica Alba." Paul stated.

"Keep dreaming."

"Trust me, I will," Paul said suggestively.

"When I imprint I hope it's less complicated than Sam's" Jared stated, starting on his sixth slice.

"If you imprint, you mean. That shit's rare. If anything you'll be going a hundred, looking like you are 25 and banging girls that are eighteen."

"That's the dream."

"Sam's so whipped, that won't be me," Paul determined as he shut off the game, bored.

"Sam is getting laid right now. What does that tell you?" Jared offered up.

" Tells me that it has been far to long since I've used my body anything other than phasing."

"Poor pent up Paul." Jared teased, tossing a pizza slice at his pack brother's head.

"You know if you weren't a VIRGIN you would know what I was talking about."

"I'm not a virgin, don't make me take you outside and beat the shit out of you."

"Close enough, brother."

"Shut up, I'm going to sleep." Jared growled and laid down on the air mattress, only after throwing a pillow directly in Paul's face.

* * *

The fog rose up from the ground as it met the cool rain as it drizzled down from the sky. Kim sighed to herself as she waited at the bus stop yet again. In some ways she was glad not to be working full time at River's Edge anymore, school offered a break of sorts, but it came with its own trials and stresses. Needless to say, Kim began to grow more anxious as she waited for the bus. She wanted greatly to blame it on the fact that she was about to start her last year of high school but that wasn't the case. In fact, the thought of seeing Jared again was causing her stomach to churn. She hadn't seen him since that day at the beach, and that was a whole three weeks ago. Jared Thail. Even just thinking his name sent shivers down her spine.

Kim boarded the bus and tried to dry herself off a little before getting to school. But she had worn one of the new outfits her mother had picked out for her, hoping that maybe, just maybe if she were lucky Jared would notice. Kim had made a summer resolution to be more assertive when it came to Jared. More assertive then just handing him pencils, notes or whatever, she reminded herself, as she sat down and looked out the window.

It had been all morning, and no sign of Jared. He just wasn't there. Kim knew that he was absent due to the fact that in her third period class her teacher had done roll call and she said his name it was only met by silence. Where could he be? Who misses the first day of school? He had seemed to be in perfect health when she had seen him with his friends. Disappointed, Kim walked to lunch alone and sat down at the lunch table. Only James was there before her, so Kim took out her books and sat with him in silence. She figured that James was the only one aside from her that had nowhere to really go on the first day of school. The others would show up when the work started piling on. But James and Kim, they were there all year round.

"Hi James," Kim said meekly. She figured if she were ever going to work up the nerve to talk to Jared, she would have to start small.

James looked up and nodded his head at Kim before going back to his books. Kim sighed to herself. This was going to be fun. She knew that James wasn't much of a talker, but neither was Kim and she needed the practice. That was when a wonderfully awful idea came to Kim.

"So…James…you look really…um, nice. Did you change your look over the summer?" Kim asked, somewhat flirtatiously. Throwing in a little eyelash batting in James' direction, she couldn't have felt more idiotic.

"Do you have something in your eye?"

She was wrong, apparently she could.

"Um, no. I just, um, really like your hair. It's cute. And your muscles, or um, yeah…you look good," Kim tried again, with a smile.

"Um, thanks," He replied, going straight back to his book.

Kim face palmed herself as she turned beet red. Of course she knew she was no good at flirting, but only now did she realise how much she sucked at interaction with the opposite sex.

She didn't know what had possessed her to try and flirt with James; it wasn't as though she was attracted to him, and suddenly she was more embarrassed and was turning redder by the second.

"I'm going to go. Bye James." Kim muttered, before gathering her stuff for a hasty getaway.

"Did I say something to offend you?" James asked quizzically, unsure about why she was leaving so frantically. The blush on her cheeks made him think she looked fevered.

"N-no no. I just, um, forgot that I had to…er…do something. Sorry. I mean, bye."

James watched as she rushed out of the cafeteria. It would be awhile before it dawned on him as to what she was trying to do. The boy was socially inept yes, but not daft. He would have to address the situation later, if he ever figured out how.

* * *

Paul hated having to do errands. He wasn't an errand kind of guy. He would do work, yes, he would fix things, yes. But he hated running other peoples errands with a passion. It was the first day of school and instead of attending like he and Jared had planned an emergency pack meeting had been called to order. Apparently Billy Black had called up Harry Clearwater and talked to him about his kid, Jacob (at least Paul was pretty sure that was his name, he always got those three kids confused). According to Billy, Jacob and his friends were hanging out at Billy's last night and he noticed that all three of them were exhibiting changes just like Sam, Paul, and Jared had. This had unnerved Sam in many ways, and Paul had felt it in the Pack bond he shared with his Alpha. He was worried, they all were. It wasn't that they weren't excited that they would have new brothers, but the changes seemed so unnecessary. The fact that the Cullens were back in the area after all these decades and were now triggering a dormant gene in their society made Paul angry. He had half a mind to tear the Cullens to pieces on just that knowledge. Some of those boys were good kids. He knew they were only a few years apart but he had a desire to protect them from this life.

Talk of the controversy that would occur should all three of those boys phase also, swirled in Paul's head, but he refused to allow himself to think that far ahead in advance. The kids hadn't changed, and maybe it was just a growth spurt. He hoped so anyway.

When he arrived at the guidance office at school he had been met with disapproving glances from the faculty. So he had missed a few days…okay a month and now the first day of school but that didn't mean he was a truant. It had been ridiculous, but he had gotten his and Jared's schedules sorted out properly. So needless to say, he was relieved when he left the office. He pushed open the door and turned as something, or rather, someone smashed right into him.

"Oooufff!"

Paul stopped and looked down confused and saw that he had knocked down a girl. Shit, he thought to himself.

"Sorry. You alright?" Paul asked concerned that his body may have done some serious damage.

"I-I'm fine. It was my fault, I w-wasn't looking" she replied making to push herself into a standing position. Paul lent forward and offered up his hand to her. As soon as she touched her hand to his he felt awkward, at first he thought that he had imprinted but the lack of the intense feelings that Sam had described to them told him that he hadn't. He felt an urge to protect her and felt drawn to her, but that was it.

"I should have seen you. Here let me help you pick up your things. Kim right?"

"Yeah, Kim Connweller."

He gathered her stuff up, despite her protest that he didn't have to, and handed it to her. He thought he recognised her from somewhere, and then it hit him; she was the girl on the beach. He smiled to himself and held in laughter.

"I have to go, but I'll see you around, Kim." Paul said with a grin and winked. Kim blushed as he walked away laughing to himself; the girl was cute, Paul would give her that.

* * *

**Well this took awhile to get out but hopefully you all enjoy it. I would like to thank my beta Kim for helping me fine-tune this. It was a rough piece of work when I sent it to her but she went through it in record time and she rocked it with great ideas and suggestions. I'm all moved in to my new apartment and had my first day of classes today, which were super exciting. So I hope you all enjoyed this and please leave a review if you can and let me know what you think. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

* * *

You never know what each day will hold, what lies ahead. Kim had pictured yesterday being a pivotal turning point, however things never worked out the way she planned. She was still Kimberly Connweller, the awkward girl who worked at the diner. In fact the only thing that had changed was that she had slightly longer hair and the fact that she had attempted to flirt with a guy. Not that it had gone over all that successfully, Kim was almost positive that she would have to avoid looking James in the eye for the next week.

Regardless, yesterday was supposed to be a great start to a whole new Kim, and today was just like every other day in La Push. So she hauled herself out of bed and got ready for school. Downstairs her parents were on their way out and her mother called up to her, halfway out the door, saying she wouldn't be able to drive Kim to work after school. She let her mother know it was okay and went back to figuring out what she was going to wear. She decided on simplicity, after the mess that was her plan, all Kim wanted to do was fly under the radar today and regroup a new plan some other time. She was mentally drained from worrying about what happened with James all night, and now she had to take the other school bus to get to work today.

There was something else that was bothering her as well. She had felt a little unsettled since running into Paul yesterday afternoon. It was just weird to her, she felt drawn to him for some reason. And he had been flirty, she had tried to persuade herself that she was just imagining him winking at her, but he had. It had given Kim butterflies and she couldn't deny that as worried as she was about her friendship with James, she had spent a lot of last night thinking about Paul. She remembered what he and Jared had looked like on the beach and she had found herself feeling a little pent up.

The rain had gone from drizzling to pouring in a matter of seconds and Kim was entirely drenched by the time the school bus had pulled up. Her jeans were sticking to her legs causing her to shiver. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Jared braced himself for the day ahead. It was the second day of classes and his idea of just blending back into school had been thrown out the window when a surprise pack meeting yesterday had been called and he was required to attend. Now that he had missed not only the end of last year but now the first day back as well, he was sure his and Paul's return would be big gossip in their small school.

At least he had Paul with him, his pack mate would be going through the same thing and as long as they stuck together they would make it through the day. Jared worried about Paul a little. He wasn't handling the change as well as Jared had. Paul was angry, he didn't understand why this happened to them and it was an off day where Paul didn't feel like beating the crap out of someone just to get his frustrations out. Jared understood of course, it wasn't normal what had happened to them, but they had to keep going, keep trying to be as normal as they could.

It was no surprise that when Sam had dropped off Jared and Paul, after giving them another long lecture about control, that the two boys were met with stares and hushed whispers. They both ignored it as much as they could and marched towards the main building. Paul had been shaking slightly since they had gotten out of the car. One of the perks about being a wolf was that you had very good hearing and while the people around them didn't think that either Jared or Paul could hear what they said, they could, and Paul was having a hard time dealing with it.

"Paul calm down" Jared muttered, too low for everyone else to hear.

Paul gave Jared a gruff nod before they separated off to their classes. Jared found that by second period most of the muttering had ceased and mainly people just stared at him as he walked past. The staring bothered him still, but not as much as the whispering and he was grateful that it had begun to die down.

By the time third period had rolled around Jared had managed to figure out how to survive school. All he had to do was sit down in his seat quietly and pretend to pay attention. If he ever felt like he was getting even remotely annoyed or upset he just tugged on the pack bond and Sam and Paul would sent their support to him and it comforted him immensely. During first period Paul had almost phased and Jared and Sam had to mentally calm him down before anyone got hurt. It wasn't just their fellow classmates who were giving them strange glances, but the teachers as well. Jared knew that the principal of the school was actually a tribal elder as well. He and Sam had worked out that Jared and Paul could come and go from school without punishment as long as Sam cleared them. He guessed that the teachers were told to let them be, and were confused by it.

Oh well, Jared thought to himself as he walked towards the science wing of his school, eventually if he was lucky he could have some semblance of normality in his life. All his old friends had ostracized him, not that he would have been able to stay friends with them anyway. Apparently disappearing off the social radar and ignoring all your friends was social suicide, and Paul and Jared were now outcasts.

Jared knew he would be late so he carefully opened the door to the biology room as to take in as little attention as possible. There was a time when he would have strolled in with confidence to his seat, collecting the attention of his fellow friends with nod. Not today, everything had changed so with his head down he tried to duck into the first empty seat he found. Unfortunately, the only seat available was in the very front row. Inwardly Jared groaned, of course he would have to sit in this seat the rest of the semester.

The class was nothing special, it was the second day so it was 'time to get serious and down to business' according to his teacher. She began taking about organic compounds and Jared felt his eyes glaze over. He should have known better, Mr. H was famous for preying on the ones he knew weren't listening.

"Jared."

Jared snapped his attention to his teacher in slight shock, he wasn't expecting his name to be called out.

"What level of protein structure are the alpha chains and beta sheets?"

He had no idea. None. He had only taken biology because he sucked at chemistry and physics. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, waiting to hear his answer.

"Well?"

"Um…" he started, trying to buy time to come up with some sort of miraculous genius, when he heard a shuffle at the desk to the right of him.

Glancing for a millisecond downward he noticed the word 'secondary' had be scribbled quickly on the corner of a page.

"Er… Secondary?" Jared replied unsure.

"Correct Mr. Thail," Mr. H spoke, slightly taken aback, " Do try and write more notes down though."

The lesson continued for another minute before the bell rang signalling rotation. Jared turned his head to thank whoever was next to him for the help when he stopped. His eyes landed on the most gorgeous girl he had ever seen.

* * *

The first few periods had been pretty intense; apparently the teachers weren't sparing any time and jumping right into the curriculum. Kim both despised and appreciated this approach. Personally she wanted to be eased back into her studies and did not appreciate having to mentally sprint to stay on top of the topic at hand, mean while it managed to take her mind off of the train wreck that yesterday was. How was she supposed to face James? Ugh, this was going to be a nightmare. She beat the bell and was one of the first people to arrive into class. She managed to score a front row seat yesterday and there was no one beside her thankfully. She didn't need anyone copying off her or the awkwardness of sitting next to someone she didn't know. Which was why when the class had almost begun she was able to focus on what the teacher was saying until the door opened with slight squeak and a huge body quickly slid into the desk paired next to hers, grunting slightly. She was stunned for a moment and took a sharp breath in as she realised that the person sitting next was none other than Jared Thail. Okay focus Kim, she told herself, there is no need to get worked up over him; you made a complete ass of yourself yesterday so you need to just shut up and chill out.

Kim found it difficult to concentrate on the class with Jared beside her. He was seemingly unaware of his surroundings and hadn't really moved much since he had sat down. She thought she could fee heat radiating off him but wondered if it may just be her imagination or her body flushing and getting hot because being near him made her feel all warm and embarrassed. Luckily they were reviewing a previous concept from last year in just a bit more detail so her lack of focus wouldn't be very inhibited. Grimacing to herself she attempted to follow along and write out some notes when the teacher suddenly called out to the person sitting next to her.

"Jared."

Kim felt the person next to her tense up slightly as his head snapped up from looking at his desk.

"What level of protein structure are the alpha chains and beta sheets?"

Kim knew the answer right away but it was clear Jared didn't. She aited with baited breath to see if he would actually get it, but he just sputtered slightly as he tried to form an answer. Kim impulsively grabbed her pencil and as casually as possibly scribbled on the top corner of her paper.

"Well?"

"Um…" she heard Jared start, and she subtly slid her paper over a bit, hoping it would catch his attention. And in the briefest moment she saw him glance down at her page but she felt if she had blinked she would have missed it. He answered the question much to the teacher's dismay and she continued on with teaching, still slightly taken aback that he had managed to answer the question. The bell suddenly rang snapping Kim out of her content reverie and Jared turned around and faced her catching her off-guard. He looked like he was going to say something to her but the second their eyes locked he froze, which made her freeze. He had this mystical overwhelmed look on his face and she slowly regained some motion control of her body and her face contorted in confusion. The entire class had left for lunch and the room was completely vacant except for the two of them. How long had they been locked in each other's gazes. Embarrassed a blush rose to Kim's cheeks and Jared smiled at her and slowly reached out to touch her cheek when she jerked away from his hand stunned. Unfortunately, she jerked herself right off her chair and landed with a thud on her butt on the floor.

"Ow. Oh my god, ow." She cried out in pain.

Jared was on the floor with her in an instant.

"Are you alright? Oh god I am so sorry, are you hurt?" he sputtered out frantically, checking her over and reaching towards her, but stopped as he noticed that she flinched away from his hand. She sat on the floor slightly rubbing the spot she landed on stunned at him. Jared Thail had been starring at her, he talked to her, and he tried to touch her, what was going on in the world? She realised he was still muttering to himself about being stupid and breaking her tailbone when she managed to speak.

"It's okay, I'm fine."

She pulled herself up and he held her arm to try and help her up. A slight current ran through her body but she ignored it and quickly yanked her arm away once she was steady and on her feet again. She glanced awkwardly at him and he still had this weird look on his face, a mix of concern and joy. Not knowing what to say Kim began to walk towards the door when she felt fingers wrap around her wrist, and she definitely felt the warmth and electricity spread from the spot they touched her.

"Wait, please. I'm sorry."

She turned around and saw Jared's face looking so tormented.

"Yes?" She replied, surprised at her curtness. He was peering down at her, the size difference more noticeable now than ever. His muscles were visible through his shirt and he seemed to be trembling slightly.

"It's Kimberly right?"

"Yeah, I usually go by Kim though."

"Kim," he said slightly breathless, "will you go out with me?"

Her mouth dropped open on its own accord and she stared at him confused for a second but then got angry; it was a prank, it had to be.

"What?"

"Will you go out with me?" he smirked moving closer. If she hadn't been so taken aback she would have noticed his nervous eyes searching her for an answer, but she didn't, all she saw was his cocky exterior.

"Um…Jared…I…" she stuttered unsure of how to tell him to bugger off. It hurt so bad that he would do something like this, she was all alone and this stupid joke made her eyes water with unshed tears. How could he find this funny? He closed his eyes briefly as she said his name but she took no notice. Here he was, Jared Thail, the boy she had been crushing on for year asking her out. It had to be a joke; she had to say no.

"Jared I can't" she replied meekly before turning to leave and sprinting away as fast as she could down the halls and away from him. She heard him call her name but she just ran to the bathroom.

When she finally composed herself she made her way to her locker, on the look out for Jared threw her stuff in and then made her way to the cafeteria. Unfortunately when she sat down at her usual table she remembered that she had planned on avoiding lunch today because of yesterday's fiasco. It was too much so she buried her head in her arm and closed her eyes, trying to block out her surroundings.

"Kim?"

Slowly raising her head she saw James looking at her with a smile on his face.

"Oh, hey James."

He shuffled awkwardly before sitting down, is books unopened.

"What's up, James?" she asked.

"Listen Kim, I wanted to talk to you about yesterday. I think we may have had a misunderstanding."

"Oh, no James, it's okay, really. We don't…we don't need to talk about it."

"I want to, Kim. It has come to my attention that I may have…misinterpreted our conversation yesterday. I thought you were being weird but I realised that you were trying to flirt."

Well that was forward, Kim thought to herself, rendered speechless for the second time that day.

"I wanted to apologise for not noticing and also ask you to go out with me sometime this month…on a date" he clarified.

"Umm…" Kim paused. She didn't know what to do. She was just practicing on James, she never considered actually dating him. Oh god today was just so random. Everything was all crazy like some sort of twisted dream that she wouldn't wake up from.

"Sure thing James." Kim responded, not quite sure what had possessed her to agree. What kind of messed up day was it that she would turn down Jared Thail but agree to go out with James.

"Good, I will work around our academic schedules and consult with you when I find a good day" he told her, while opening his books and getting right into his work.

She sat back, with her mind racing. She didn't really want to go out on a date with James; it would be so awkward. They were sort of friends, and he was kind of cute, but regardless she was still reeling from what had happened with Jared. She didn't know what to think about that. She caught herself scanning the cafeteria for him, but he was nowhere to be found. His usual crowd was at their usual table, but Jared wasn't there, and neither was his friend Paul she noticed. How weird, normally they would be goofing off with his friends. Later on, when Kim arrived in English, her last class of the day, Jared was absent. The teacher called his name and someone said that Paul had taken him home sick. Kim felt her stomach drop, I couldn't have anything to do with the conversation she had with him, could it?

The rest of the day dragged on until finally Kim snuggled up in bed, willing sleep to come. As she slowly drifted out of consciousness a lonely wolf howled into the night, it was a long painful howl and Kim's last thought was how sad and eerie it sounded.

* * *

**Hey everyone, so I know it has been more than awhile and there is really no excuse for me being this behind except that school this year was so awful. So completely consuming and I ended up changing my major among other things. Regardless, I'm back. I struggled a lot with this next chapter and I started writing it in September then wrote a bit more in December then finally finished it up today so I tried to make it flow, I really did. I'm going to try and get more into this and continue updating. I would love some feedback. I'm not completely happy with the Kim and Jared interaction, but then again I knew I would have trouble writing their first interaction and I lost my plan for this story somewhere in my packing to come home for the summer so I'm cleaning tonight after I post this and hopefully will find it and continue. Thank you for all the support and reviews and encouragement to update. Sometimes I need a good nudge to get my creative juices flowing again. Anyway this is getting long, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review if you can. **


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